Sofía Vergara nearly spent her life peering into mouths instead of mugging for cameras.
The Colombian-American actor, 54, walked away from dental school just two semesters shy of graduating to chase modeling and acting, a gamble that led to global fame as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett on “Modern Family” and later a judgeship on “America’s Got Talent.” She revealed the abandoned career path during a 2016 appearance on Harry Connick, Jr.’s chat show, explaining that medicine’s lengthy training had steered her toward what she considered the next best option.
“I went to dental school but I didn’t finish. I went for two years,” Vergara told Connick, Jr. She noted that despite hitting the books hard during those semesters, she never actually examined a patient’s mouth before deciding the field wasn’t for her.
The pivot from dentistry to entertainment ultimately landed Vergara among television’s highest-paid stars and earned her hometown’s highest honor. Last summer, officials in Barranquilla, Colombia unveiled a bronze sculpture of the actor along the city’s Gran Malecón waterfront promenade.
Barranquilla mayor Alejandro Char spoke at the ceremony while Vergara vacationed with her family elsewhere. “Barranquilla surrenders at your feet, telling the whole world: thank you for being who you are, thank you for being a Barranquillera,” he said during the unveiling. “What better way to celebrate Sofía’s birthday than by honouring her with this beautiful work that represents her joy, charisma, authenticity, and unique spirit.”
The sculpture’s artistic merits drew immediate comparisons online to a notoriously unflattering Cristiano Ronaldo statue unveiled years earlier. “Who approved this?!?!” one Reddit user posted. Another commenter wrote: “Can we get some people who know how to do faces when making statues?” A third joked that the piece “looks like someone with a big foot fetish made that statue.”
Vergara’s journey from aspiring dentist to decorated entertainer began long before the statue controversy or her “Modern Family” breakthrough. She spent two years immersed in dental coursework before abandoning the qualification entirely, a decision that cleared the path for her eventual sitcom stardom.
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